


And in the morning, I’ll be with you

by voices_in_my_head



Series: I always wondered how far we could go if we could break through the ceiling above us [3]
Category: DCU, Sons of Anarchy
Genre: Rare Pairings, Wordcount: 10.000-30.000
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-07
Updated: 2020-05-07
Packaged: 2021-03-03 02:53:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,455
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24057796
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/voices_in_my_head/pseuds/voices_in_my_head
Summary: "“Everyone’s becoming a bit restless.”“Careful; parole can still go sideways.”“I know,” Juice says and reaches a hand forward, but before it’s even close to reaching Jason, he pulls it back. He leans forward, talking in a whisper, “it’s really hard to see you but not get to touch you.”“I know,” Jason says, just as lowly, “but it’s just for a couple more months.”"
Relationships: Juice Ortiz/Jason Todd
Series: I always wondered how far we could go if we could break through the ceiling above us [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1726456
Comments: 14
Kudos: 51





	And in the morning, I’ll be with you

**Author's Note:**

> Right, so I started rewatching S4 of SoA and you know what I realized? That asides from what pertained to Juice's storyline I'd pretty much forgotten all of it - the cartel, the Russians... And after panicking for a few hours as to how I'd make it fit the story I wanted to tell I thought "fuck it, time to go AU." So yeah, I've kissed canon goodbye by this point and am just picking and choosing what I need from it.
> 
> This story is for everyone who's kudoed and, especially, commented on parts 1 & 2\. Thanks for giving this a shot :)

It’s close to one year since Juice and most of the club went to prison when Jason comes home from work to find Piney sitting at the driving seat of his truck.

He’s started working at a local bookshop, doing everything from restocking to serving customers to bookkeeping. Basically, he’s learning everything he needs from the trade; the owner is an old lady whose last employer moved to L.A. to pursue his dream of being an actor and who happily accepted Jason when he went in with his CV.

He’s been there for months now; started just a couple weeks after Juice first went inside, needing something to keep him occupied when he wasn’t in classes or doing essays for it. Besides, his funds had started to run low.

As Jason takes off his helmet, the old man comes out and walks towards him.

“Can we talk?”

Jason frowns, confused, but nods. Over the past year, he’s grown close with the members of the Club that are still out. He doesn’t think he considers them family – like Juice does – but he likes them well enough. Still, this is a novelty.

Jason unlocks his front door and goes in first, moving aside for Piney to follow him and closing the door behind them. Then he leads them to the living room.

“You want anything to drink?” He asks, waving a hand around, “sit wherever you want.”

“A beer, if you have one,” Piney requests and sits at the dining table.

Jason nods and goes to get two out of the fridge, not bothering with glasses.

He puts one in front of Piney and then sits in front of him. After a gulp, he asks, “so, what’s this about?”

“Usually, I’d never bring in an outsider about club’s business. But you’re not exactly a regular joe.”

Jason raises an eyebrow, but doesn’t say anything.

“Tomorrow, the club is gonna vote on something. Something big, and serious.”

Jason frowns. “Juice hasn’t told me anything.”

“I don’t think he realizes just how serious it is.”

Jason waves his hand, asking for more details.

“You know that we’ve been dealing guns to the Russians, right?”

“Yeah, after Jax got stabbed, you made a deal,” Jason says. It’s not exactly something he’s happy about, but it is what it is.

“Yeah. Clay’s been trying to find a way to back out of it ever since. To get retaliation for Jax. But the Russians... they’re not the Mayans or the Niners. They have real firepower behind it. We kill Putlova and his guys, we get killed after.”

“If we’re asking me to take care of it-” Jason starts but Piney shakes his head.

“No, it’s not that. Clay figured that the only way to stop retaliation from the Russians was to get a bigger player backing us. Someone that even the Russians respected.”

Jason frowns, “and he found that someone?”

“Yes,” Piney pauses, “the Galindo cartel.”

Jason leans back on his chair. He understands now what Piney meant with telling him Juice probably didn’t realize the seriousness of the situation.

SAMCRO, the Mayans, the Niners… hell, the League, they’re small fish compared to pretty much any serious cartel, and the Galindo are as serious at it gets.

“What’s the vote?” Jason asks, voice a bit dry, so he takes another gulp from his beer.

“That we start selling them guns instead. A lot of them.”

Jason frowns, “I know why they’re bad news, but why don’t you want it? It’d mean a lot of money.”

“Yes, but I’d rather my son be poor and alive than rich and dead. Look, I may not be out on the streets like I used to, but I still know the rules of this game. And cartels… they have none. And I know you know this.”

Jason nods, slowly. Despite everything, the Sons have a list of rules that they more or less follow. The Galindo cartel… there are no rules.

“What do you want me to do? Convince Juice to vote no?”

“No. Even if you could, it’d still pass. Clay is selling this as the only way to get vengeance for Jax and it’s going to pass. What I want you to do… What I’m asking you to do, is to find a way for the cartel to withdraw their offer. Clay won’t, so it has to come from their side.”

Jason doesn’t do or say anything for a few seconds. When he does speak, it’s slowly, measuring his words as they come out, “what you’re asking is serious.”

“I know. But what other choice do we have? I think we both know that the chances of getting in bed with a cartel and things continuing fine and dandy like they have are pretty close to none.”

Jason frowns. He needs to think.

“So the vote is tomorrow?”

“Yeah, but there won’t be retribution until they’re out. So there’s two months.”

“Without the cartel, there won’t be retribution,” Jason says and Piney shrugs.

“I don’t know. Clay might still try to push it but it’d be suicide. I love Jax like a son but he isn’t dead and neither is anyone else, and I’d like to keep it that way.”

“Alright,” Jason nods. “I’ll think about it, see what can be done.”

Piney gets up, offers his hand for a shake. Jason gets up too to shake his hand.

“Thanks, Jason,” Piney says and Jason smiles.

“You wanna have some dinner? There’s leftovers.”

“Nah, I’m good, thanks. Gonna have dinner with Opie, Lyla and the kids.”

Jason keeps smiling, happy that the old man has his family around. Then he leads Piney to the door. After closing it behind him, Jason leans his forehead on it, taking just a few seconds to breathe slowly and deeply.

After about a minute, he forces himself into standing straight and cricks his neck right and left. He has to think about this, about the different ways there are to take care of this.

The first is obvious – kill them all. But it’s not simple. He can’t just kill whoever’s in charge of operations in California, since someone else would probably simply take that place and, of course, try and find out just who it was that tried to kill them and start a war.

The easiest people to blame would be a rival cartel. But if there’s something Jason knows about wars between cartels is that they’re never quick and they’re never clean. A lot of innocent blood would be shed.

So, the other option is to give them a reason to leave by their own accord. This leaves a bad taste in Jason’s mouth; they’ll still be looking for a new gun dealer, it simply won’t be in Jason’s backyard.

Jason know that he can’t stop all crime. That what he did in Gotham… it barely left a mark, years later, not when it comes to the gun, drugs and sex trades. Getting rid of the Joker does seem to have shortened the amount of true psychos running free in Gotham, but that’s about it.

Still, it’s not like he regrets doing what he did, or being Robin before that. He and Bruce saved a lot of people, he won’t say otherwise. But the idea of simply sending the cartel away… He sighs.

There’s really no winning this one, is there? So he has to look at what the better option is, the one that will keep the less innocent blood shed.

Jason, back to sitting at the dining table, finishes his beer before taking out his phone.

Barbara’s name is one of the first on his contacts list. Since Dick came back in his life, he’s been talking to Barbara again as well. But the conversations are never long, and there’s always a smidge of awkwardness.

It’s not that there’s bad blood between them, it’s just that they’re very different people now and the conversations that were easy when Jason was Robin and Barbara Batgirl simply aren’t anymore.

But, there’s no one else he trusts to find dirt on the cartel. He presses the green button.

After a few seconds, Barbara picks up. “Hey,” her tone is neutral, which is certainly better than it being cold.

“Hey. I need a favor,” Jason says. There’s no point in beating around the bush.

“Alright. Hit me.” It does mean a lot that she doesn’t even sound doubtful. Jason will think on that at a later time.

“The Galindo cartel are trying to move in with the Sons of Anarchy, use them to buy guns, I’m guessing from the Irish.” Barbara doesn’t say anything, waiting for where she comes in the picture. “I need to find a way to make them back out.”

“The cartel?”

“Yeah.”

“Blackmail?”

“It’s gonna have to be really strong.”

“OK. I’ll call you back in a few days; I have a few things to take care of around here first.”

“No problem, Babs,” he says and when she replies, her tone is finally warm.

“You’re welcome, Jason.”

Barbara doesn’t disconnect, so neither does Jason.

“Do you ever… Think about coming back?”

Jason doesn’t answer right away. Then, “no.”

“I don’t mean moving back in, just for a visit.”

Jason moves his jaw around. If he went back to Gotham, even for a few days… It wouldn’t be the same, he knows. He and Dick have a good thing going on. Maybe it’s not your “normal” sibling relationship, but they talk frequently and there’s less raw edges now. And he talks to Alfred weekly.

But no one has brought Bruce up and he knows that if he went back in Gotham, there’s no way he wouldn’t see him. The possibility of really not seeing him – that he’d be in the same city and Bruce would still make sure they didn’t meet… Jason isn’t a coward, but that’s not something he’s willing to deal with anytime soon.

“I don’t know,” he finally replies, honestly. “Not right now.”

“That’s OK. You still have a few months to decide,” Barbara says and he can hear the smile in her voice, a truly happy one.

“What are you talking about?” Jason asks.

“I’m pregnant.”

“Holy shit,” Jason says, and smiles. “Is it Dick’s?”

“Yes, it’s Dick’s, you ass.”

“Do you know if it’s a girl or a boy?”

“Not yet; it’s still early.”

“Well, either way, that kid is going to take over the world. Your smarts, Dick’s good looks? No one will stand a chance.”

Barbara laughs, “thanks, Jay.”

Jason’s smile softens at the nickname.

“I’m really happy for you, Barbara. And Dick, of course.”

“Yeah, you’re gonna have to call him.”

Jason nods, even though he knows she can’t see him. There’s a pause but again, Jason just waits Barbara out. She’ll either speak or say her goodbyes.

“We have a lot of choices to make. About… how we want to bring up this kid. Where. Our lifestyles are dangerous, Jason. And it was one thing when it was just the two of us, but now…”

“I know,” Jason says.

“Does that make me… cowardly or selfish? Thousands are counting on us.”

Jason exhales, loudly. Barbara’s thoughts aren’t all that different from the ones Jason was having just a half an hour before.

“I don’t think there’s a right answer, Barbara… But, if there’s something I’ve learnt in the past few years is that we’re allowed to put ourselves first sometimes. You’ve given a lot to Gotham; more than most. You’re allowed to do what’s best for you for once.”

Barbara sniffs once, then quickly composes herself. “Thanks, Jason. I think… I just needed to hear that from someone else.”

“Dick’s been saying that too?”

“Oh, yeah. I mean, with him… he’s a cop during the day, a vigilante during the night. He’s thinking of at least retiring Nightwing, unless a real emergency pops up. I mean… Things are better, Jason. The cops are less corrupt, crime rate has gone down. And there are new players. Heroes that communicate, that are trying to make this world a better place.”

Jason knows Barbara’s saying it as much to him as she is to convince herself but he’s still glad to hear it.

“You’re going to be an amazing mom, Barbara,” he tells her.

“Thank you, Jason,” she says and Jason can tell that she really means it. “I’ll get back to you on that info, OK?”

“You got it. Thanks, Babs.”

“No problem,” she says and then disconnects.

Jason leans back on his chair. Then he smiles – Dick’s gonna be a dad! He laughs, then shakes his head at himself and finally gets up to go reheat some dinner.

.

The next day, he goes to visit Juice. They’re allowed a quick hug; Jason has his arms up and just as suddenly it’s over. Prisoners are also allowed a two-seconds kiss (since longer and there’s a chance something might be slipped through) but they haven’t kissed in over a year. Prison is not the type of place you won’t other guys knowing you have a boyfriend, no matter how much protection you might finally have.

“How are you?” Juice asks once they’re sitting and Jason doesn’t answer right away, as usual first drinking him in greedily, trying to see if there’re any physical changes. He’s lost some weight, but nothing to worry about. The biggest changes are definitely the hair and now, a little mustache.

“I’m good, thanks.”

“Work?”

“It’s been good.” Juice nods at that, “and you?”

He shrugs, “as good as it gets here. I’ve been working out with Happy.”

“That’s good,” Jason says. He knows the conversation is stilled but it usually is for the first few minutes here – which, of course, is usually how long they’re allowed to last. They can’t really say what they want: _I miss you_ , _I love you_ , so all they have are these awkward _“how are you? Good, you?”_ exchanges.

“I’m almost out,” Juice says and Jason doesn’t know who he’s telling it the most: to him or to himself.

“Yeah,” Jason replies and is genuinely happy about it. He puts his hands on his lap, the urge to reach over becoming too strong to resist otherwise.

“Everyone’s becoming a bit restless.”

“Careful; parole can still go sideways.”

“I know,” Juice says and reaches a hand forward, but before it’s even close to reaching Jason, he pulls it back. He leans forward, talking in a whisper, “it’s really hard to see you but not get to touch you.”

“I know,” Jason says, just as lowly, “but it’s just for a couple more months. You be good and you’ll be out in no time.”

Juice nods, like he’s steeling himself. He’s been holding himself well; Jason knows it’s because he’s not alone. He can’t even imagine what prison would do to Juice if he went down by himself.

“I got some news,” he says, forcing the change in subject.

“Yeah?” Juice asks, raising an eyebrow.

“Talked to Barbara yesterday. She’s pregnant.”

Juice raises both eyebrows, then his face breaks in a smile. “That’s awesome! And it’s Dick’s?”

“Yeah.” Juice hasn’t met either of them yet, but as Jason fixed his relationships with them, he got to hear more and more about them. Jason figures he’ll probably feel like they’re old friends by the time they finally meet. “’Haven’t actually talked to Dick yet.”

Juice rolls his eyes, “what you waiting for?”

“I will, I will!” Jason raises his hands. He hasn’t been putting the conversation off for any particular reason. It just hasn’t come up yet, but he’ll call him soon enough.

Before either of them can say anything else, the guard is telling them their time is out. They know the drill; no point in asking for more.

So they get up, share another quick hug and then Jason gets to see Juice being led away in handcuffs. He exhales noisily, dropping the smile. Yeah, this is getting harder. Thank God it’s almost over.

.

Around two days after visiting Juice, Jason is washing his dishes when his phone rings. He dries his hands and then picks it up, accepting the call after seeing Barbara’s name.

“Hey,” he says.

“Hey, I got the information you requested. I’m sending it to your email now, encrypted.”

“Thanks. Anything interesting?”

“Oh, yeah. Took me a while but I found out that the Northern Cali big shots of the Galindo Cartel are CIA undercover operatives.”

“Shit,” Jason says, surprised. Then he feels relief; it’ll be easy to blackmail them into leaving. No way is this the sort of information that they want out. It almost makes him feel a bit guilty but it’s not like you get to be in the big leagues in a cartel by baking cookies. He doubts their victims care that they were killed in the line of duty and not for simple cruelty.

“Yeah. That’s not everything. I thought I might as well run a search on the Sons of Anarchy and it turns out there’s a new taskforce being put together to get to the Irish Kings through them. It should be in Charming in a few days. Lincoln Potter is the Assistant Attorney in charge.”

“OK.”

“I’ve sent you the info I have as well. There is one thing that I’m not getting.”

“Oh?” Jason asks, raising an eyebrow. That doesn’t usually happen to Barbara.

“Yeah. Your boyfriend, he’s Juan Ortiz, right?”

“Yeah,” Jason answers, this time frowning. Juice is pretty low in the SAMCRO chain of command to be of much interest to an Assistant Attorney, he’d think.

“Well, his file was on a folder called “Plan B,” alongside Otto Delaney’s. I’m not sure what it means.”

Jason keeps frowning, “I don’t know either. But I’ll take a look at those files.”

“Alright. Have a good evening, Jason.”

“Thanks, Babs,” he tells her and they disconnect.

Jason goes to turn on his computer. He’s more curious than afraid to figure out just what makes Juice worthy of being called “Plan B.” He might not know everything about Juice’s past, but he doubts he has some big dark secret willing to make him… what? Rat on the club? That seems to be the only thing he can think of, though he has no idea what the hell plan A consists of.

It’s the first thing he opens after decrypting Barbara’s files.

Well, he’ll give Assistant Attorney Potter one thing: he is very thorough. Birth certificate, high school grades – hell, notes from his teachers – how he did in college during the one year he attended before dropping out, moving to Charming, prospecting for the Sons before patching in… Nothing jumps out as weird.

And then Jason reaches the part about his parents. His mom’s called Gabriela Ortiz and her biography is smaller; few notes on her life in Puerto Rico, a bit more detailed on how she died – car accident. And then there’s his dad, who Jason knows for a fact Juice has never met.

And suddenly the pieces fit together. There’s a picture of him, Michael Cole. He’s black.

Jason leans back on his chair. The Sons have a _no-blacks_ rule.

He almost can’t believe that Potter really thinks this is that big of a move. But then he thinks about everything Juice has said about the club, done for them. They’re his family. Would he rat if he thought it was the only way to keep his place at the table? And, of course, Potter is smart, he’d sell it like the Sons would be OK, that he was only after the Kings.

Jason passes a hand through his hair. After Juice is out, he’ll tell him the truth. What he decides to do with that knowledge… that’s up to him.

After that, Jason finally moves on to the files on the Galindo cartel and, specifically, on Romero Padara and Luis Torres. They’re not pretty files. Jason really doesn’t feel any compunction on making sure they leave the hell out of Northern Cali – because he’s going to make sure it’s not just Charming that’s out of bounds, or they’ll start asking questions, trying to figure out who he is.

Which leads him to the next part in this equation – just who is he going to be to them? A guy in a black mask? Or… a more special mask?

He sends a text to Dick requesting him to call after patrol is done, reassuring him that it’s nothing serious. He needs someone to bounce ideas on and in this particular case, who better than Dick?

While Jason waits, he turns on the TV, though he barely pays attention. Classes only start in a few days, which means for now he’s pretty free apart from his job, which doesn’t usually occupy him when he’s out of the shop.

It’s almost eleven PM – two AM in Gotham – when his cellphone rings. After seeing it’s Dick, Jason picks up.

“Hey, little wing, what’s up?”

“Congrats on the baby,” Jason tells him, smiling.

Dick exhales on the other side, like he can’t quite believe it yet. “Thanks.”

“How you feeling about it?”

“Nervous. Scared shitless. And the happiest I’ve ever been.”

“You’ll be fine, then,” Jason promises and Dick laughs.

“Yeah? You think these are the necessary qualities to be a good dad?”

“It’s a good start. You and Babs are gonna rock at this.”

“Thanks, Jay. That really means a lot,” Dick says and Jason can hear the honesty in his voice.

“I also called about something else.”

“Anything to do with what you asked Barbara to research?”

“It wasn’t a secret; she could have told you.”

“Eh,” Dick says and Jason can imagine him shrugging. “If she’d thought I needed to know, she’d have told me.”

“Right, well, there’s new players trying to get in the game in Charming. The Galindo cartel.”

“Shit. A cartel’s serious business.”

“I know. But I found a way to make sure they rethink their move – with helps to your baby mama.”

“She is great,” Dick says and Jason rolls his eyes at how in love he sounds.

“Yes, well, let’s not get derailed.”

“Alright. What’s the plan?”

“It’s simple. Two of the big shots are undercover CIA agents. That’s more than enough blackmail to make sure they leave.”

“Yeah, that’s definitely information they don’t want out there. So what’s the problem?”

“It’s not exactly a problem,” Jason says and then stops, takes a few seconds to gather his thoughts. “I just… How do I show up?”

“Ah,” Dick says, like that very unclear question is enough for him to understand Jason’s predicament. And apparently it is. “What are you thinking?”

“I don’t want them to see my face, that’s for sure. But I don’t know if a regular black mask will pass on the message seriously enough.”

Dick is silent for a few seconds, “if you go in a domino, your red helmet, any other thing… you’ll be sending a message.” Jason keep quiet, letting the silence ask the question for him. “That there’s a new player in town. A different kind of player.”

Jason exhales loudly. “It’s not like I haven’t thought of it before. I know what the Sons of Anarchy are up to. There’re more guns coming through; they made some sort of deal in Ireland, became a bigger player.”

“But?”

Jason sighs, “it’s not about Juice. But. Do you ever think… That part of the reason the crazies in Gotham got more bold, more crazy, is that a man decided the best way to stop crime was to dress like a bat?”

Dick inhales sharply. “Jason-”

“I’m not saying what he’s done isn’t good, Dick. Despite our issues… I know Batman’s done good things for Gotham. But you have to admit, before he came along, Gotham’s biggest issues were corrupt cops and gangsters with their fingers in a lot of pies. And suddenly… There’s Mr. Freeze, the Penguin, the Riddler, Scarecrow… The Joker.”

Dick keeps silent. Jason sighs and passes a hand through his hair. “When Barbara told me she was pregnant, she mentioned the both of you were thinking of taking a break. But that you felt kind of guilty. And I get that, Dick. I haven’t been in the game in a long time and I still think about what would happen if I got back in. What I could stop,” a pause. “Or instigate.”

Dick doesn’t say anything right away, “she told me. She also told me what you replied when she said that. That we’re allowed to put ourselves first and do what’s best for us. Same goes to you too, Jason.”

Jason is silent and when Dick continues, it’s in a soft voice. “What you’ve done with yourself, Jason… I know it has nothing to do with me, but I’m proud.”

“Don’t,” Jason says, feels a bit chocked up.

“No, I think you do need to hear this. When you came back to Gotham… You were so angry and you felt betrayed. And you had every right to. Maybe I don’t agree with your actions, but I can see where they were coming from. And when you left…” Dick takes in a deep breath, “honestly, I was half afraid Barbara was going to call me one day and tell me you were dead. Again.”

Jason keeps quiet and Dick continues, this time with a type of wonder in his voice. “But that’s not what happened at all. Jason, do you understand how amazing you are? You got yourself out of a really deep, dark hole, and turned yourself into this… This amazing young man. I’m in awe of who you’ve become.”

Jason sniffs, feels a few tears coming down his face. Dick just waits him out in silence; Jason can hear him breathing. Finally, he pulls himself together.

“Shit, I’m never calling you for advice again. You’re way too sentimental.”

“It’s part of my charm, baby.”

“Never say that again to me again. And never call me that either.”

Dick laughs on the other side.

They’re quiet after that for a few seconds.

“I think… I think a simple black mask will do the trick. It sounds more like you were looking for an excuse to put another type of mask back on. And I don’t know if you were looking for an excuse because it’s something you actually want to do, or something you feel like you have to do.”

Jason doesn’t reply right away. Then he sighs, “Barbara’s made you wiser.”

Dick laughs, “you betcha.”

Jason sighs again, “I’m gonna think about it. For real.”

“OK,” Dick says.

“Thanks for the talk,” Jason says. “And congrats again.”

Dick laughs, “anytime, little wing. And thanks. Again.”

They disconnect after that. Jason leans back on the sofa. Yeah, he has some thinking to do.

.

The next night, Jason very, very carefully opens the window to the room Padara is staying at in San Jose, having gotten the location from Barbara.

He’s covered in black from head to toe.

Before falling asleep the night before he’d though about getting the red helmet out – it was in a chest under some floorboards – but in the morning light he realized that Dick was right and he felt like this was something he needed, should do, but not something he actually wanted to do. And maybe in another time that wouldn’t have mattered, he’d still have gotten the helmet out of its hiding place. But here, now, what he wanted and what he thought he needed to do weren’t the same thing and he refused to not listen to the part of himself that told him this was the better choice, even if it didn’t seem like it.

The helmet isn’t going anywhere, anyhow.

Once Jason is standing in front of Padara’s bed – who snores but very lowly – and has a gun turned towards his face, he moves, making sure his shoes make a scratching noise on the floor.

Padara keeps snoring. To the untrained ear, it wouldn’t have sounded any different than five seconds before. But his isn’t an untrained ear.

“I have a gun pointed at your face. So, no sudden movement. Slowly, turn on the lamp.”

Padara does as told, blinking at the light. He doesn’t look scared, or even all that confused. Maybe a bit amused. Honestly, Jason doesn’t blame him. It’d take a lot more to get on his nerves than a stranger dressed in black with a gun to his head too.

“I know who you are, Agent Rodriguez.”

That finally gets a reaction, though, again, barely noticeable. All Padara does is blink slower than usual and take a deep breath, though barely making any noise.

“Who are you and what do you want?”

Jason tilts his head to the left, just slightly. His hand on the gun doesn’t move. “Find a new gun supplier. Outside Northern California.”

Padara blinks again. This time, he decides to let the surprise show on his face.

“And if I don’t?”

“Then Jose Galindo is going to get a very interesting package, full of information that will end up with you and Agent Davis…” He pauses for a few seconds. “Well, dead, if you’re lucky.”

Padara studies him. Jason doesn’t know what he’s looking for – trying to decide how serious Jason should be taken, if there’s any chance that he can kill him before he gets killed – and honestly, he doesn’t care that much.

“Let me make this clear, Agent Rodriguez. The Galindo cartel will not be getting their guns through Northern California. The only choice you have is what you do next.”

Padara studies him for a few more seconds. Then he nods. “OK.”

“Good. I knew you were a smart man,” Jason says and then slowly walks to the window, gun still pointed at Padara. The window’s been left open, so he quickly puts one leg out, still with the gun up, and then quickly, jumps. It’s a second floor; he learnt how to break a fall from much higher stories.

He starts running the second he’s on the ground, but Padara doesn’t shoot at him. Probably decided the consequences of missing his target would be unpleasant, to say the least.

Smart man. Good thing it’s the last time Jason will have any reason to see him.

.

The next day, Jason goes to the clubhouse after dinner. It’s a busy night; Miles has been patched up. Jason congratulates him with a pat on his back and after getting a whiskey on the rocks, goes to sit beside Piney at a table by a corner.

After a few seconds in silence, he says, “it’s done.”

Piney grunts, then turns to look at him, “are you sure?”

Jason shrugs, “I guess you’ll know in a few days when Clay calls.”

Piney grunts again, then takes a sip from his drink.

“After Juice is home… I’m going to tell him the truth.”

Piney nods, “after they’re all home, we’ll tell the rest as well.”

Jason raises his eyebrows, “you sure that’s the best idea? Clay isn’t going to like it.”

“Believe me, secrets will kill this club faster than anything else.”

Jason takes a few seconds to ponder through that – remembers the whole mess that got his daughter-in-law killed – and finally nods.

“OK.”

Piney nods and then they’re silent. Jason turns to glance around the room and sees Gemma walking in. It’s been a while since she’s been to the clubhouse at night; she’s usually babysitting.

“I’ll see you later,” Jason says to Piney, who grunts at him as farewell, and goes to make his way to Gemma after picking up his glass.

“Hey,” he says when he’s close enough, kissing her on the cheek.

“Hey, baby,” she says, patting him on the cheek. “How’ve you been?”

“Can’t complain. You?”

“I’m good. Won’t be long ‘till our boys are back.”

Jason nods, smiles. “Yeah.”

“You been to visit this week?” Gemma asks with a raised eyebrow, to which Jason nods. “Clay tells me he’s doing good. Keeps his head down but not that down that everyone else thinks he’s a little bitch. Happy’s been keeping an eye on him when Clay isn’t around.”

“That’s good,” Jason says.

“Some men come back from prison broken… but not our boys,” she says, smiling proudly. Maybe it isn’t the most normal thing to feel proud about, but Jason can kind of understand it, especially in the circles the club runs, filled with testosterone. It’s a eat or be eaten world.

“Come on, ice’s melted on that. Let me get you a new drink,” Gemma says, putting an arm around Jason’s, who smiles and lets her lead him to the bar.

.

Jason skips class for the first time in his third year to welcome Juice and the rest of the guys home. Even though it’s still morning when he gets to Teller-Morrow, the environment pretty much screams party, though a more laid-back one than usual.

Jason says hello to Tara and the kids before Gemma comes kiss him hello.

“Excited?” She asks after he’s kissed her on a cheek.

Jason smiles, “of course. Aren’t you?”

“Sure, but this ain’t my first rodeo.”

“Well, hopefully it’ll be Juice’s first and last,” Jason says and Gemma squeezes his arm. He’d known being away from Juice for over a year wouldn’t be easy, but it’d be harder than he’d expected.

“He’s a smart boy,” is what Gemma says. Not exactly what Jason wants to hear but he knows where she’s coming from: with the club, there are no certainties. Doing time… It’s a possibility they all go through. And honestly, serving fourteen months for the charges they were facing against is a pretty good deal.

Before he can reply – not sure with what – the sounds of running motorcycles gets louder and both he and Gemma smile, as someone yells “they’re here!”

Jason claps with everyone else, putting his fingers in his mouth to send a couple strong whistles. Then he walks towards the motorcycles.

He’d wanted to be outside Stockton when Juice got out, but Gemma had told him it was the club’s way to only have members there. The prospect – Filthy Phil – had had to tow their motorcycles there.

Juice takes off his helmet and Jason doesn’t even bother waiting until he’s out of the motorcycle before kissing him. Someone whistles but he pays zero attention, putting both hands on Juice’s face, feeling one of his going to his back – squeezing – and the other to his hair.

Honestly, if they were standing, Jason doesn’t know he’d have the self-control not to just pick Juice up. Hell, maybe take him to one of the rooms in the clubhouse.

But, eventually he forces himself to lean back, though neither lets go.

He smiles, bigger than usual, and Juice smiles back. “Hey,” he says and Juice laughs.

“Hey yourself.”

Finally, Jason lets go so that Juice can get off his ride, and he greedily looks him over, trying to find any changes, just like always. But he looks just like he has for the last couple months; thinner than usual and with hair and more facial hair than usual.

“You know, I never told you, but I like the new look,” Jason says and Juice moves a hand to his chin.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah,” Jason smirks and leans forward to speak directly on Juice’s ear, “I’d show you just how much this is working for me if we were in private.”

When he leans back, he’s glad to see Juice’s eyes are just a bit glazed. Fourteen months away and some things don’t change.

“So,” he starts, still smirking, “think I can convince you to keep it?”

Juice shakes his head, as if to get his head back on track. Then he smiles, puts his indicators through Jason’s belt loops and pulls him forward, speaking against his mouth, “I think I could be persuaded.”

Jason smiles before kissing him again, though he really does try to keep it as innocent as possible, telling himself _there are kids around_ over and over.

He forces himself away, knows that they’re very close to embarrassing themselves if they don’t get a grip.

“Chapel in ten!” Clay yells.

“We could do a lot in ten minutes,” Jason says, suggestively, and Juice groans.

“You’re a bad influence.”

“Oh, baby, I’ll be as bad as you want.”

“Stop,” Juice says, laughing, but doesn’t do anything to move further away. “There’s club business to take care of after. I’ll see you before the wedding?”

Jason shakes his head, sadly, “I already skipped classes this morning. Should at least go this afternoon.”

“I hate how good you are,” Juice says and then when Jason opens his mouth, clearly ready for a comeback, kisses him quickly to stop it. “Don’t.”

“You’re no fun,” Jason mumbles against his lips.

Juice growls, “I’ll show you how much fun I can be.” Then he removes his fingers from Jason’s belt loops and puts his hands on his chest, gently pushing him away. “Later.”

“Alright,” Jason says, smiling. But he still can’t help himself and leans forward to kiss Juice again.

“We all wanna get our dicks wet, but there’s business to take care of first,” Tig says, loudly, and Jason pulls back, chuckling.

“You heard him,” Juice says and Jason sighs, really wants to go for another kiss, but is also self-aware enough to know that if he does that, they’ll never stop. So he takes two steps back.

“I’ll see you at the wedding, yeah?”

Juice smiles and Jason waves. Then he goes to his motorcycle. Time to go be in the real world for a little bit before the party really starts.

He smiles at Juice just before putting his helmet on, not riding out until he sees Tig put an arm around him and lead him inside. Then he smiles and leaves.

.

Jason gets to the Wahewa reserve after the Club is there, guests trickling in. For a second, he can’t quite believe this is his life. Being a guest at a wedding where pretty much every other guest has dealings on the wrong side of the law. Mayans, Niners, Grim Bastards, Russians… It’s a who’s who of the criminal underworld.

Juice nods to the few members he knows of every gang – mostly a couple Mayans and Grim Bastards – and then goes to Juice, pressing a hand to his back in greeting but keeping the PDA in check. When it comes to how public they are around other clubs, Jason leaves the ball in Juice’s court.

“I can’t believe you’re wearing baggy jeans to a wedding,” Jason tells him, leaning so that they’re close. “Though I like the shirt,” he moves a hand to it, picking a piece between two fingers. Usually Juice just wears a t-shirt underneath his cut, but the black shirt… It fits him.

Maybe Jason should have skipped his afternoon classes as well.

Juice shrugs, “have you looked at what people are wearing? You’re one of the most formal.”

And yeah, Jason figured he would be but he spent enough time around Alfred as a kid that the idea of going to a wedding in regular clothes just didn’t fit well. He’s not wearing a full tux, but his pants are crease free, he has a white shirt on, three buttons free by the neck and a jacket on an arm.

“You look good, by the way,” Juice tells him, kissing him on the cheek.

Jason hmms, but before he can say anything, Jax is whistling to get everyone to sit down. Juice interlaces their fingers as he leads them to the second row to the front. Jason goes in first, sitting by Kozik, then Juice and Happy after.

They both nod at him in greeting and Jason nods back.

Then, soft music starts playing and he turns back to see Piney leading Lyla, Opie’s daughter holding onto her gown.

Someone yells “you’re a lucky man, Opie!” and there’s laughter and clapping and whistling, Jason being as loud as pretty much everyone else.

Throughout the ceremony he can’t stop smiling, feeling genuinely happy for Opie and Lyla. He sees the looks Jax and Tara share, wonders if they’ll all be back in just a few short months.

As it’s Lyla’s turn to start her vows, Juice grabs onto his hand, once again interlacing their fingers. Jason squeezes back.

After Opie’s vows, Jax has a shit eating grin on his face as he asks, “what else?”

Opie rolls his eyes, but starts off with “and treat you as good as my leather and-”

“Ride you as much as my Harley!” Pretty much everyone yells out with him. Jason laughs; didn’t know that was coming.

Then everyone is clapping and getting up and the party really starts.

They’re led to another open space, where there’s a small dance floor and set tables waiting for them.

“No set places?” Jason asks, curious to find it so.

“They figured no one would follow them,” Juice tells him and Jason laughs.

They sit at a table with the SAMCRO members that aren’t Clay, Jax, Opie or Piney. While the food is waiting for everyone at a different table, there are different types of booze – wine, beer, whiskey, gin – at each table. Smart.

“I thought you’d have gotten rid of that mop by now,” Tig says to Juice, as he pours himself some whiskey and starts passing it around the table. Jason goes for a beer.

Juice shrugs, “I got convinced not to.” And then he sends a not at all obvious look at Jason, who smiles back.

“You’re so whipped,” Tig says and Jason prepares to reply, but Bobby beats him to it.

“At least he doesn’t have to pay for sex.”

Everyone laughs at that but Tig, as always, is unashamed. He shrugs, “it’s the only way to sleep with a woman without them wanting to talk about our…” he rolls his eyes. “Emotions.”

People laugh again, with Jason shaking his head. He’s not touching that with a ten-foot pole. Which is, really, the way he usually deals with Tig.

“I’m glad you shared a cell with Clay and not with Tig. Who knows the consequences long-term habitation with him would have,” Jason says, turning to Juice.

“You definitely don’t want to know the weird stuff he says. Half the time, I didn’t even know if he was asleep or awake!” Bobby says and they laugh again.

“It’s good to have you back, brothers,” Chibs says, putting an arm on both Happy’s and Tig’s shoulders – the ones sitting closest to him – and pulling them in.

“It’s good to be back,” Happy says. “Thanks for watching after my mom.”

“Of course, brother,” Chibs says and kisses him on the forehead.

The conversation is light after that; they finally get up for food when most of the people at the other tables already have. Jason receives a nod from Alvarez, from where he’s sitting with some Mayans as well as some Grim Bastards, and he nods back.

They eat, drink and talk, everyone getting drunker as the night goes by. Eventually, couples turn to the dancing floor, Jason watching with a beer in his hand – he’s lost count of how many he’s had; enough to feel pleasantly buzzed – and a smile, when Juice gets up and offers him his hand.

Jason raises both eyebrows, but Juice just waves his fingers, so he lets his smile grow and putting the bottle on the table, takes his hand and lets himself be led to the dance floor.

Since he’s taller, Juice puts his arms around his neck, while his go to his waist.

They’re silent for the first few minutes, just swaying back and forth. Jason smiles at the people around; Gemma, Tara. Lyla and Opie are clearly in their own world, with no eyes for anyone else.

“I missed you,” Juice finally says, in a low tone, not meant to carry. Jason squeezes his hands where they rest around Juice’s waist.

“I missed you too,” he says.

“Thank you for waiting for me. For always being there,” Juice says, looking in Jason’s eyes. Jason kisses him, doesn’t linger too long – they’re still in public, he has to remind himself.

“I wouldn’t have it any other way,” is what he says. He can’t say there weren’t hard moments, but in the end… Waiting for Juice for slightly over a year beats by far the other option: breaking up and letting go of one of the best things that’s ever happened to him.

Juice smiles, kisses him. After a few seconds, Jason leans back.

“Don’t wanna give people here a show, do you?” Jason asks, more amused than anything else.

Juice looks really relaxed; he too has drunk his fair share though not enough that he won’t ride out of here. Of course, if he gets pulled by a cop, he’s got enough alcohol in his blood to get a fine – if he’s lucky – but there’s also no way Jason is convincing him to ride on his back, not with so many eyes on them.

There have never really been mean-spirited comments thrown their way, but Jason knows there are still certain expectations to follow. Knows how the guys feel about one of them “riding bitch.”

“Did you hear me?” Juice asks, touching Jason’s temple with a finger, calling for his attention.

“Uh?” Jason asks and Juice rolls his eyes. Then he moves forward; there’s pretty much no room left between them.

“I asked if you wanted to get out of here.”

Jason smirks, “yeah, you already give your gift to Opie and Lyla?”

Juice rolls his eyes, “there’s nothing wrong with getting your colon clean.”

“It’s just a sexy present, you know? Exactly what one wants on their wedding day.”

“Alright, smart-ass, what did you give them, then?”

“I gave Lyla a voucher for a lingerie shop in Stockton.”

“She might just use that for her job.”

Jason shrugs; that’s up to her. “I think they’ll still be more appreciative of my gift.”

“Well,” Juice says and smiles, “I’d like to show you just how appreciative I am of you. If we go home.”

Jason smiles, softly, and Juice clearly realizes he’s thinking of something more than just him showing him some appreciation because he raises an eyebrow and asks, “what?”

“Home. It’s our first night living together.”

Juice laughs, “my stuff’s been in your place for over a year but this is when I officially move in. Our lives, man.”

“I wouldn’t change it for a second,” Jason says, still with a soft smile on his lips. If he focuses, of course there are things he’d change, but right now, dancing with Juice amongst what have become, surprisingly, his friends as well as Juice’s, yeah, he doesn’t think he’d change anything in his life.

“We can change the things you want around the house,” Jason promises, not afraid of whatever Juice decides to change. They’re both clean people, like their stuff in their own places. And Jason really wants Juice to feel like he’s at home; like it’s not simply Jason’s place where his stuff is.

“Later. Now I’d really like to go home and do other stuff.”

“Oh, yeah, what kind?” Jason asks, giving him a large smile and Juice leans forward to whisper in his ear. He’s barely finished with the words before Jason has him by the hand and is dragging him away, with Juice laughing.

As they pass most of the guys, they get a lot of whistling but Jason really couldn’t care less. He just leads them to their motorcycles and then they go home.

.

After, Jason lies on his back, while Juice is on his stomach, following with a finger all the tattoos Jason now has covering parts of his chest and arms.

“I recognize this,” Juice says, passing a finger over _we’re all looking up at the stars_ , which is just below his ribs, on the right side. He speaks in a low tone, like he’s sharing a secret. “But I remember it going differently.”

“Yeah, I changed some of the quotes. Made them more… personal.”

Juice moves his finger to one that runs along his collarbone, in Cyrillic.

“What does this one mean?”

“It’s from _War and Peace_ by Tolstoi. The original quote goes “I simply want to live; to cause no evil to anyone but myself” but I only got the first part tattooed.”

Juice hums, moves on to the one on the inside of his right arm, in Portuguese.

Jason explains before he can ask, “it’s from a Brazilian blogger, though it’s been credited to a famous Portuguese poet for years. It says “rocks in my way? I keep them all. One day I’m going to build a castle.””

Juice looks up at him at that, “that’s pretty cool.”

Jason grabs Juice’s hand, moves it until his finger his back on his chest, this time on a quote in Spanish, that starts to the left of his belly button and disappears onto his back.

“I don’t know who said it originally. It’s from a famous graffiti; it says “life is not the party we had imagined, but since we are here, let’s dance,” he pulls the hand up to his right pectoral.

““I was just making sure of you,”” Juice reads.

“It’s from Winnie the Pooh,” Jason tells him with a smile and Juice laughs. “You still deciding on what to get on your back?”

“Yeah. Maybe I’ll just start with something small and keep adding to it.”

Jason hmms. He’s still holding onto Juice’s hand. He feels relaxed and knows that they’re both close to falling asleep. But the longer he keeps the information Barbara found for himself, the longer it feels like he’s keeping a secret. A shameful one.

“Hey,” he says, seriously, and Juice opens both eyes. “I need to talk to you about something serious.”

Juice frowns, then he lets go of Jason so that he can turn to his back and then sit against the headboard. Jason moves so that he’s sitting as well, legs crossed, but across from Juice, with nothing to lean back on.

“A couple months ago, you voted to sell guns to the Galindo cartel, right?”

Juice frowns, but nods. “Yeah. But it fell through; they said they wanted a contact closer to the border.”

Jason nods. “The night before the vote, Piney came to see me. He asked me to find a way to get the cartel to back off, since he knew Clay wouldn’t.”

Juice is still frowning.

“How did you do it?”

“I asked Barbara to get me some info on them, strong enough for blackmail. ‘Turns out two of the big shots are undercover CIA agents.”

Juice raises both eyebrows, “shit.”

Jason nods again, then he leans forward to take one of Juice’s hand, who doesn’t stop him.

“Why did you do it? Because Piney asked, because of the guns…” Juice starts, back to frowning, looking confusedly at Jason, and maybe a little distrustful. It makes Jason heart hurt, but all he does is squeeze his hand.

“I know cartels, Juice. They’re… The Sons have rules, right? And maybe some they bend and even break on occasion but the cartels… The wreckage… I’ve been to Mexico, Juice. Thousands of people missing, buried in unmarked graves. Rape, torture… They have no rules.”

Juice nods, but doesn’t say anything. Jason sighs.

“And yeah, I do want you out of the gun business. Of course I do; I never said otherwise. But… It’s your choice.”

This time, Juice studies him for a few more seconds in silence before nodding.

“This secret-” He starts but Jason cuts him off.

“It won’t be a secret for much longer. Piney is coming clean to the club; he’s gonna ask for me to be there too. He can’t exactly tell them that he got the cartel to back off by himself; no one will ever believe that.”

Juice frowns, “Clay isn’t going to like it. And he won’t be the only one. He might ask for him to lose his patch.”

Jason shrugs, “it’s up to him, Juice.”

Juice nods.

“OK,” he breathes in, slowly. “I mean… This is a surprise but… I’m alright with it.”

Jason smiles, leans so that he can kiss him, still holding one of Juice’s hands, moving the other to cradle his face. He sighs against his lips.

“I missed you,” he says, knows he’s repeating himself, but unable to force himself to care.

“I missed you too,” Juice replies.

After a few more seconds, Jason leans back. “There’s something else.” He moves so that he can open the last drawer from his bedside table, taking out a folder. He holds onto it as he tells Juice, “when Barbara was running the search on the cartel, she found out there was going to be a new taskforce coming to Charming. Not just for the Sons, but for the Real IRE and the Russians. The Assistant Attorney in charge… he put your and Otto’s files on a folder called Plan B.” He finally passes the folder to Juice, which only contains his file.

Juice frowns as he reads it. When he finally reaches his father’s picture, he stops. “Oh.”

Jason just keeps looking at him. Doesn’t know what to do.

“I only ever knew his name. Never met him, didn’t know… Anything, really,” Juice says, still looking down at the folder. Jason keeps silent and he finally looks up. “How long have you had this?”

“Two months. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you before, I just… You were in prison; I didn’t think it was the right time to put this all on you.”

Juice breathes in and out, looking down. He passes a hand through his head, then looks back at Jason. “I get it. It’s not like this was a life or death situation. Well…” He smiles, self-derogatory. “I guess it’s just about my life in the club.”

Jason finally moves so that he’s sitting against the headboard. He grabs onto one of Jason’s hands, still on top of the folder.

“You’ve just done one year and two months inside with most of these guys. They’re not going to vote you out.”

Juice doesn’t say anything, just looks back at his picture. Usually, Jason is pretty good at telling what Juice is thinking, but right now he’s drawing a blank.

“And this guy… the Assistant Attorney, he was going to use this to blackmail me?”

“I think so. It’s the only thing that jumps out from your file.”

Juice’s face is completely blank as he keeps looking at his father’s picture. With a jolt, Jason recognizes the expression Juice is sporting; it’s the one he does sometimes, when he’s overwhelmed, when he doesn’t want anyone to know what’s going on through his head.

“You know the worst part?” Juice asks, still looking down. Jason wants to hold his chin, force eye contact, but he knows that would be a very bad choice, so he just keeps looking. Juice continues without waiting for a verbal response, “it’d probably have worked. The club… They’re everything I had. Anything that put that at jeopardy…” he breathes out noisily. Then he turns to Jason, his eyes glistening. “How weak is that?”

“Oh, baby,” Jason says and moves so that he’s holding onto him, pushing Juice’s head on his shoulder, speaking to his ear. “It’s not weak. They’re your family, of course you’d want to keep a hold on them. And Potter… he’s smart. He’d probably tell you he’d leave the Sons out of it if you got him details on the Irish and Russians. Play with your head.”

Jason exhales loudly on Jason’s shoulder. Then he leans back. Jason almost expects to find him with tears in his eyes, but instead he looks determined.

“I wanna tell the guys.”

“You don’t have to,” Jason says.

“I’m not ashamed of who I am. And Potter doesn’t know I know the truth; he might still try to blackmail me. We should be prepared.”

Jason doesn’t say anything to that; sees the logic in it. He really does hope the guys aren’t stupid enough to vote him out over this.

Juice smiles, puts a hand on Jason’s face, “you know why I said the club’s everything I had? Because that’s not true anymore. Jason… I have you now. And this Potter, he can’t touch that. And if the guys want me out…” He shrugs, “you’ve made me realize that my worth is not up to other people. I’m not hiding this like a dirty little secret. They can do to me whatever they want.”

Jason moves his face so that he can kiss Juice’s palm. “I’m so proud of you, baby.”

Juice smiles, looks like he wants to say something else, but instead leans forward to kiss Jason, pouring out all his feelings into it. Jason takes them greedily, gives back as good as he gets.

They don’t really speak again that night.

.

On Saturday morning, just a couple days after Opie’s wedding, Jason and Juice ride to the clubhouse.

Piney is waiting for them outside as they park; Juice by the rest of the club’s motorcycles, Jason on the other side.

“Hey,” Jason says as they approach him.

Piney nods as a greeting. “You ready?”

“Yeah,” Jason says. He doesn’t feel nervous, exactly. But he truly has no idea how this will end up. He likes Clay, probably more for Gemma’s sake than him, but he does. But he also knows that Clay controls the club with iron fists and that he won’t be happy about someone – especially an outsider – messing with that control, to say the least.

Piney looks relaxed as he leads them inside, even though he’s the one with the most to lose. Still, an unanimous vote is necessary to get voted out of the club and Jason doesn’t think Clay will get that, if he pushes for it.

“Everyone’s already at chapel,” Piney says, pushing the door open. He goes inside first, then Juice and finally Jason.

Clay frowns, “what’s this?”

“Jason’s part of why I asked for us to meet. I’d like him to stay,” Piney says, as he goes to sit at the other head of the table.

Clay continues to frown as he studies Jason. He turns his eyes to Piney for a few seconds, then back to Jason and finally nods. “Alright, get a chair.”

Jason nods, feeling Juice squeeze his arm before he goes to his seat and Jason gets a chair from the outside the room. Back inside, he puts the chair between Piney and Opie, but not right at the table. He closes the door before he sits down.

“What’s this about?” Clay asks and before either Jason or Piney can answer, Juice speaks up.

“Actually, before that…” He turns to Jason, “I’d like you to tell them about Potter. And plan B.”

Jason studies Juice for a few seconds. Juice just keeps staring back and so Jason finally nods, turns to Clay. “There’s a new taskforce in town. It’s led by Assistant Attorney Lincoln Potter and he has a couple FBI, ICE and ATF agents under him. They’re here for you, as well as the Real IRE and the Russians.”

The guys at the table start making noise at that, but Clay just stares at Jason, who can pretty much see the wheels turning in his head, thoughts running almost too fast for him to keep up with.

“How do you know this?” Is what Clay finally decides to start with, and the guys settle down to hear his answer.

“I have a friend who’s good with computers.”

“Better than Juice?”

“They’re on a whole different league,” Jason answers and Clay studies him for a few more seconds before nodding.

“And plan B?”

“Potter has a file on all the members of SAMCRO. Two of those files were in a folder called Plan B. My friend didn’t understand what that meant, but I’m guessing it’s the people Potter think he has a chance to flip.”

“And who’s that?” Jax asks, seriously.

“Otto and Juice,” Jason answers, looking at him and not at Juice.

“What the hell do they have on you?” Clay asks, turning to Juice.

“They found out who my old man is,” Juice says, pauses, then finishes, “he’s black.”

Clay blinks, “that’s it?”

“The club has a _no-blacks_ rule,” Juice says and Clay leans back.

“Shit,” he says.

“It don’t matter. Your birth certificate says you’re Hispanic, right?” Chibs asks and Juice nods.

“It’s an outdated by-law, anyway,” Jax says and Jason almost smiles, can see Juice pretty much deflate from relief. He knew it was a possibility, however small, that the guys would have a very different reaction, but it’s good that this is the way it’s turned out instead.

“And Otto? What the hell do they have on him?” Clay asks and Jason doesn’t answer right away, instead moves his eyes until they land on Bobby.

“Shit,” Bobby says and Clay turns his face to him. “I was sleeping with Luann before she got killed.”

Clay blinks, “Otto’s in prison. He might not like it, but I don’t think that’s enough to get him to flip on us. Not after everything he’s done for this club.”

“Depends on how they frame it,” Jason says, getting the table’s attention. “I don’t know what Potter’s plan is, but he’s smart. If he makes it look like Bobby killed her…”

“Jesus Christ,” Clay says and Bobby puts his head in his hands. Then he turns to Clay.

“And we still haven’t gotten Caruso.”

Clay sighs, loudly. “OK, we’ll deal with that later. And you?” He turns to Piney, “what did you want to talk about?”

Piney moves his eyes around the table before he speaks. “There’s a reason the Galindo cartel backed out of the deal. I asked Jason to make that happen.”

Pretty much everyone starts talking at once. Tig even get ups, though Chibs is pushing him back down. Clay looks pretty close to flying straight across the table to squeeze Piney’s neck. Maybe Jason’s while he’s at it.

“Why?” He bites out.

Piney leans forward, hitting the table with a finger, “because a cartel is serious business. We get in bed with one… We might as well kill this club and everyone in it while we’re at it.”

“It wasn’t your choice to make!” Clay says, pointing a finger at him. Then he waves around, encompassing the table. “We voted! And it was our only way to get retribution for Jax.”

Jax is staring between Piney and Jason, jaw clenched, though he looks more thoughtful than angry.

“I love you like a son but this… It was path that would lead to our graves,” Piney tells him and finally, Jax nods.

“If the cartel is that dangerous… they wouldn’t leave because of nothing. What the hell did you do?” Clay asks, turning to Jason, who shrugs.

“My friend found some information they were willing to leave Northern Cali before it was made public.”

“Must have been something real explosive,” Jax says and Jason nods, but doesn’t reply. He might not agree with the methods the CIA is using to bring down the cartel, but he’s not going to mess with it, not right now.

Everyone is silent after that. Beside Jason, Opie is smoking and looking between his dad and Clay. Jason remembers Juice telling him about how Piney shot at Clay after the truth was out about Donna. There’s been bad blood between them for a while and he doubts this will make it any better.

“I think it’s time you left,” Clay finally says, turning to Jason. “We have club business to discuss.”

Jason nods and gets up. He opens the door and takes the chair out. Just before closing the door behind him, he looks at Juice, who sends him a small smile. Then he closes the door.

He goes outside; doesn’t want Clay thinking he stood outside trying to listen in – though those walls are pretty sturdy.

There’s no one around. The garage is closed; Gemma either at home or babysitting. Maybe both. Jason doesn’t have to go to work for a few hours, and he’d like to be with Juice before that, figure out just where the chips are falling on the club.

Clay is dangerous, but he’s smart. This play with the cartel has shown him that Jason has more connections, more power than he first thought. But hopefully he’ll also realize that the best thing he can do is simply let things run their course. The only bartering chip he has is Juice and the chances of that ending well for him are pretty damn slim.

Jason takes out his phone, scrolls through his contacts. Thinks about calling Dick, but he’ll either be at work or relaxing. It’s still early in Charming; just about lunch time in Gotham. Or time to be cooking lunch.

Jason scrolls back up on his contact list, presses call on Alfred’s name.

It isn’t long before Alfred is answering and saying in a warm tone, “Master Jason.”

Jason smiles, “hey, Alfie.”

“How have you been, Master Jason?”

“I’m good, thanks. And you?”

“All is well around here, thank you. I’m just finishing up the magret de canard for lunch.”

“Fancy.”

“We are having guests. Miss Gordon, Commissioner Gordon and Master Dick are coming to lunch. I believe some news will be delivered,” Alfred says in his normal tone but it still makes Jason laugh.

“If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you’re fishing, Alfred.”

“But luckily, you do know better, Master Jason.”

Jason laughs some more.

“I believe Mr. Ortiz has come home, correct?”

“Yeah, a couple days ago. We already went to a wedding and everything.”

“That sounds wonderful, Master Jason.”

“Yeah, it was fun,” Jason says, smiling, thinking back about dancing with Juice. And then taking him home. He coughs; those are definitely not thoughts to be having when talking to who pretty much amounts to his grandfather.

“And work and classes?”

“Everything’s going well,” Jason says and realizes he’s telling the truth. Besides this little hiccup with the club, things really are going well. Third year has just started, he enjoys his work…

“I’m truly happy to hear that,” Alfred says and Jason hears nothing but honesty in his tone. He exhales loudly, thinks back on his conversation with Dick months ago. About how Jason got himself of a very deep, dark hole and how he called him amazing. Jason wonders if Alfred feels the same. At the very least, he knows being back in the old man’s life has brought him true joy.

It’s made Jason pretty happy as well.

The door opens behind him and Jason can hear noise.

“I’m gonna let you back to cooking, yeah?”

“Very well, Master Jason. Until we speak again.”

“Yeah, talk to you later,” Jason says and then disconnects. He turns to the door. Jax and Opie are the first out, already with cigarettes in their mouths. Jax nods to him while Opie goes to him. He sits down, but doesn’t say anything.

Jason doesn’t know what to say either. Opie was one of the few who didn’t go to prison and so they’ve spent some time together over the past year and two months, but usually around other people.

Finally, Opie nods and claps Jason on the shoulder. Then he gets back up to talk to Jax.

A man who speaks through actions instead of words… Reminds him of someone.

“Hey,” Juice’s voice brings him back to reality. Jason smiles and Juice sits right beside him, putting a hand on his tight and squeezing. “We’re good.”

Jason nods, expects he’ll get more details once they’re alone.

“It was brave, what you did,” he tells him, in a lower tone. It’s a private conversation.

Juice smiles, “I wouldn’t have done it without you.”

Jason opens his mouth to refute, but Juice keeps talking. “I’m serious, Jason,” he pauses but before he can continue, more guys are coming out of the clubhouse. Juice squeezes Jason’ tight, “we’ll talk later, yeah?”

“Yeah. I’m gonna grab a bite before work, you wanna come?”

“Yeah, sounds good,” Juice says and gets up, offering him his hand. Jason takes it, interlaces their fingers and then they walk out to find a restaurant close-by.

.

Jason gets home around eight PM. There’s music playing when he unlocks the door, which makes him smile. It’s Rolling Stones and when the chorus comes along, he hears Juice singing along.

He keeps smiling as he goes to the living room, stopping in his tracks just before going in. The lights are out, and instead the room is lit by candles. The one on the table and the few on the coffee table are regular candles, but the ones on the floor, on the shelves, are all electrical.

Jason goes to the kitchen. Juice is whistling along to the song, moving his hips to the rhythm, as he swirls whatever’s on the pot.

Jason’s half tempted to just lean by the doorway, cross his arms and enjoy the show. But he decides he’d rather touch him – even if it meant ruining the show – than stay back.

He goes and puts his arms around Juice, smiling against the back of his neck as it makes him jump.

“Hey, baby,” he whispers against his neck and Juice squirms as his breath touches him.

Juice turns to him, smiling and kissing him.

Jason hums against his mouth as he leans back just enough so that he can speak, “special occasion?”

“Yeah,” Juice replies and he’s still smiling, but he sounds just a bit nervous. “But you have to wait.”

Jason smiles and nods, “OK.”

Juice rolls his eyes, “you need to let go of me to finish dinner.”

“I don’t want to,” Jason whines, feeling zero shame about it, not when Juice has only been home for about a week.

Juice laughs but hugs him back. “I’m not going anywhere,” he promises and Jason nuzzles at his neck.

“You better,” he mumbles. After a few seconds, his stomach rumbles and he finally lets go.

“Food’s almost done.”

“Whatcha making?” Jason asks and, to his surprise, Juice blushes.

“Arroz con gandules,” Jason blinks and Juice explains, “it’s what I made for our first date.”

“I remember,” Jason says and looks back at the living room, at the table set with a candle, at Juice looking nervous and making a special food… He thinks he knows what this is about, feels his breath get trapped in his throat.

He squeezes Juice’s arm.

“Is there wine?”

Juice laughs, “yeah, a bottle of red,” he passes it to Jason, who goes to open it.

They work in silence for the next few minutes and finally, Juice takes the pot to the table. He puts food on both of their plates as Jason pours some wine. They both drink a pretty big gulp before starting to eat, each nervous for their own reasons. Though probably not that different, in the end.

“So, the club?” Jason asks and almost cringes after. Maybe he shouldn’t have brought that up. But Juice just smiles.

“It was fine. No one pushed anyone out. Clay is still pretty pissed but most of the guys came to see Piney’s point of view,” he moves his hand forward, touching the one Jason isn’t using to eat. “It was good he had you to count on.”

“Yeah, I… I called Dick before I got it done. I was… I wasn’t sure how I wanted to show up. As just some regular masked guy or… Something more. A different kind of message.”

“You mean… a Batman style message?” Juice asks, frowning, and Jason nods.

“Yeah.”

“And…?” Juice asks and Jason can see he’s afraid of the answer. He moves his hand to interlace their fingers.

“And I decided that wasn’t a fight I wanted to be on, not anymore. I feel… I do feel slightly guilty about it. Thinking about the good I could do and don’t. But… We keep telling each other we get to put ourselves first, right? It’s what I told Dick and Barbara too. And it’s true. As guilty as I might feel… It’s nothing compared to how happy I feel just being here.

“No one well-adjusted becomes a vigilante. And I’m not saying I’m particularly well-adjusted, but I don’t need to be a vigilante to feel like… Like I’m worthy of something. Of life. Being with you, in Charming, it makes me happy.”

Juice lets out the breath he was holding, “thank God. That should make this easier, then.”

He moves a hand to take something out of his pocket, brings it out in a fist. He still has a hand interlaced with Jason’s. The food is going cold, but neither seem to care.

Juice moves his hand so that it’s in the middle of the table. Then he opens his fist. There’s a ring lying on the middle of it, a perfect band of silver.

Jason’s breath gets caught in his lungs. Then he lets it all out in a rush.

“What I was saying earlier today… I meant it, Jason. I could never have told the truth to the guys without you. And it’s not… It’s not just because they’re no longer my only family. It’s because you’ve made me stronger. You made me realize that I don’t have to hide who I am to be loved.” He takes a deep breath, then slowly lets it out. “I love you. And I want to be with you for the rest of my life. So… Will you marry me?”

A smile slowly breaks out in Jason’s face. Then he nods. “Yes.”

Juice smiles and jumps up, quickly going around the table to get on his knees and kiss Jason.

They kiss for what feels like minutes until Jason leans back. He smiles, “are you gonna put the ring on, or what?”

Juice smiles and then does as told. He’s looking all lovey-dovey at Jason, who is staring at his hand. He’s never really worn rings before. It’s different, he thinks as he turns the hand around. Different, but not bad.

“I love you,” he tells Juice and then they’re kissing again.

Jason thinks back on Dick’s words, remembers how a part of him always feared the day Barbara told him he was dead. Again.

He’s never felt so happy to prove someone wrong.

**Author's Note:**

> The full quote that Jason changed is “We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars” by Oscar Wilde, and which Jason and Juice discuss in part 1.
> 
> And yes, my dears, we are going to Gotham next.


End file.
